Genshin Impact | 5.2 Special Program

[Dragon Lord]

Putting this response in a spoiler in case Elite comes into here before experience much of Fontaine.

The lore is that any characters with a Vision (what gives people their elemental powers) are able to dive underwater without the use of a diving suite, but any normal human that doesn't have a vision has to have a diving suite (something that's touched on in a side quest). This kind of thing is a recurring theme in Genshin, as it's mentioned a lot that Vision holders are much stronger than people without Visions and their elemental powers allow them to do things that normal people couldn't. This was a theme in Sumeru too with the Withering, a phenomenon in the forest that, as the name suggests, caused the forest to wither and die, and was also toxic to people -- however Vision holders were able to resist the effects much longer compared to normal humans who would succumb to the effects of the Withering in mere minutes. So basically Vision holders are kind of super human compared to normies who weren't chosen by the gods to have a vision.

The combat doesn't work the same underwater. You're characters aren't able to attack or use their skills/burst like normal. You have this little... skill that can damage enemies, but it's extremely weak. In order to do any significant damage, you have to find an animal you can "leech" a skill off of (there's only two I think, at least that's all I've come across so far), and with those skills you can attack enemies or solve puzzles. However, you can only have one of them "learned" at once, so you have to find the animal with the other skill if you come across a puzzle that requires it. The first skill is this water blade that you shoot out. It can hit multiple enemies and will travel though enemies, so it can hit enemies behind other enemies as well. It's used for solving puzzles that require cutting this seaweed looking stuff. The third skill is this little ball you can shoot that will explode on impact. You can also hold the skill to create a shield that can absorb certain attacks and then shoot them back with increased power. This skill is used for breaking cracked walls/rocks that you can find around.

So yeah, the combat underwater is extremely limited. One thing I was pleasantly surprised about the underwater traversal is that the control of it is amazing. Isn't annoying to control your character underwater at all, at least not when playing on kb/m. I'll see if controller is any different when I play on PS5 tomorrow.

[Moonface]

I never definitively knew Genshin had any distinction of characters having powers or not, so that was neat to learn. The underwater combat definitely sounds limited, and on paper sounds like it would be incredibly tedious having to find what you need to swap to the power you need every time your current one is no longer of use. I'll assume for now that that mechanic is handled reasonably well just because you didn't make a point to call it a slog of mini fetch quests.

I saw there's been some leaks for the 4.1 update, so I'll put all of that in these spoiler tags as I doubt everyone wants to see them:

Genshin Impact 4.1 Leaks

• Two new characters, Wriothesley and Neuvillette.
  
• New enemy types that closely resemble the playable female characters, with two called Seneschal of Frost and Seneschal of Wind.
  
• New event weapon called Ballad of the Boundless Blue, which increases normal attack damage by 16% and charged attack damage by 12% for 6 seconds.
  
• Venti and Hu Tao will get a rerun banner in the near future.
  
• Radiant Harvest event: https://imgur.com/a/yRWLl5H
  
• At least four new areas: Mont Esus East, Fortress of Meropide, New Fontaine Research Institute, and Central Laboratory Ruins
  

[Mr EliteL]

So far I'm loving Fontaine, more so than Sumeru and Inazuma but it's still early days, that might change depending on what is added, like how Sumeru got the massive desert that kept growing and still looks incomplete, but was just a chore to explore the desert. Still got lots to do in it.
Underwater gameplay is better than I expected but yeah, needs more abilities for the combat. The scenery underwater is pretty much what I wanted to see and more.

The one thing I dislike is the twin mini-boss that I've encountered in the water I think twice in two different locations but that was once on my main and then my NA account, but I think indeed were not in the same place. The normal attack just sucks in general, the slice and shield don't do much either, even the counter for the shield does abysmal damage to them. I swear it's recommended to co-op against them, or just spend ages fighting them but I failed doing the latter after I lost three characters before retreating.

I only quickly checked the spoiler tag for something, and Hoyo showed Wriothesley and Neuvillette who basically are for 4.1 on their Twitter already so that was no longer a leak, think it was just before the update too. Although I was surprised about Neuvillette coming this soon and not perhaps alongside Furina or after her. Haven't finished the Archon Quest but no sign of Wriothesley yet but he's either in the second part I've yet to do or will appear in 4.1 somewhere in story. I was also curious about them and found leaked gameplay but I'll still wait, but thinking of skipping them because my Primogems are dwindling.

Just to say why, my NA had the most out of my three, wished for Lyney's weapon mainly for Ganyu, got it quickly and was my first 5* on the weapon banner, then went what the heck, see if I can win 50/50 for Yelan but lost it, but got C5 Lynette who I've been playing quite a lot or at least having her in a team in my main/NA accounts. EU, I went and C3'd Kokomi last banner to make up missing her previous banner in my road to getting my first C6 limited character. Why her of all characters? I don't know, I'm aware there's many more I could be doing that with which can help my team more than her, like my Ayaka for example, but Mika ruined her banner last time for me. I get picky sometimes. Well, that Kokomi was part of my building up AR and quest team, and still has been a key character in many different teams so yeah, also one of my favourite characters. Primogems on my main is back to being the most out of the three after I acquired C2 Klee. I need to build those Primos from doing as much as I can, especially in Fontaine which is the first area I'm actually willing to repeatedly play three times over.

[Mr EliteL]

I'm a bit late but I had to work later than usual today, but here goes...wait before I do just in case you haven't got this code yet, because I didn't until just now:

2S84JS839T8R (Primogems x60, Adventurer's Experience x5)

4.1 Special Program

Redemption Codes:

1. FB8PFFHT364M
2. JS96FEZS3P59
3. 2T86EWGBJP6V



What's New:

• Neuvilette (5-Star Hydro) & Wriothesley (5-Star Cryo)
  
• Archon Quest IV: Act III & Act IV
  
• Wriothesley Story Quest Chapter
  
• New explorable Fontaine areas (Research Laboratory, Fortress of Meropide, Underwater cave)
  
• New World Boss: Experimental Field Generator & Millennial Pearl Seahorse
  
• New Enemies: Fatui Frost Operatives & Fatui Wind Operatives + some more
  
• New TCG Cards Wanderer, Dehya, Yaoyao and more
  
• Adjustment to Adventure Rank Ascension Quest, Daily Commissions
  

Version Specific: 

• Phase 1 Banner Neuvilette & Hu Tao
  
• Phase 2 Banner Wriothesley & Venti
  
• Main Event Waterborne Poetry; Various Activities, available rewards Ballad of the Boundless Blue (Catalyst) and Dandelion Bookmark
  
• Event Dodoco's Bomb-Tastic Adventure; Minigame
  
• Event Radiant Harvest
  
• Event The Peaks and Troughs of Life; Combat
  
• Event The Forge Realm's Temper: Clever Strategems; TCG event (no primogems)
  
• Event Overflowing Mastery (Talent Books)
  

3rd Anniversary Rewards: 

• Daily Check-In Reward (various rewards including 10 Intertwined Fates)
  
• Mail Claim (Primogems x1600, Fragile Resin x4, Itty Bitty Octobaby, Portable Aerodynamic Gelatinous Bubble Generator)
  
• After 4.1 Genesis Crystals Top-Up bonus Reset
  

---

Plus they share recipes, and whatever, messages from cast and there was other stuff in that program which took double the amount of time an usual Special Program takes. I had to skip over a bit but caught some of it.

Looking forward to the new areas, the Archon Quest and gathering up more Primogems. Anniversary rewards are well similar to before, the daily check-in and stuff in the in-game mail but nothing more really. I'm whatever on it really, tiresome to hope for more and watch other people complain about it all over again. New characters seem alright but if you've already got plenty of Hydro and Cryo characters clearing stuff for ya, what are these two going to bring? I have three games going though, I don't plan on pulling for either but if their presence in the Archon Quest is good enough I might consider them or later on in their rerun. Neuvilette's been good so far though, better than my first initial impression from the leak image of him.

[Dragon Lord]

Definitely a skip patch for me. Can't wait for Furina though. Not only is it sounding more and more like she's a godly support character at C0/C1, but I see leaks are suggesting that she becomes an insane hypercarry at C2, and at C6 she might be the most busted DPS in the game. I have lots of Primos saved up, with lots more to be saved coming up in 4.1~ Plus lots of Sumeru content to go back and finish. I'm hoping I can at least C4 her with my savings, and then I'm willing to spend (since we'll have double Primo packs refreshed for anniversary) to get the last two copies of her I'd need for that C6.

4.2 can't get here soon enough! Well, actually it can, because I need time to go back and actually do Sumeru content.

[Moonface]

Genshin Impact | Version 4.2 Special Program
I wasn't aware there was a Special Program airing today, and although I haven't watched it I hope I don't miss anything in this summary:

• Release Date: November 8, 2023
  
  
• New Areas: Erinnyes Forest and Morte Region, located eastward in the Fontaine region. These areas have been plagued by bacterial mats, and you’ll cleanse these with the help of the Xenochromatic Ball Octopus, an aquatic creature that hunts by firing watery projectiles, as you continue the world quest The Narzissenkreuz Adventure in the Tower of Ipsissimus. You’ll need to defeat a couple of powerful new foes, the All-Devouring Narwhal and The Foul, in order to bring some semblance of order back to a region slowly getting flooded.
  
  
• New Characters: Furina, the Hydro Archon (5* Hydro sword user) and Charlotte, the Reported (4* Cryo-catalyst camera wielder)
  
  
• Event Wish - Phase 1: Starts on November 8, and will include Charlotte, Furina, and Baizhu, as well as two unannounced 4* characters.
  
  
• Event Wish - Phase 2: Starts on November 29-ish, and will include Cyno and  Kamisato Ayato, as well as three unannounced 4* characters.
  
  
• Redemption Codes: VA97KJNF24UV / NTQP2KPEJMUH / 9T96KJNE2LVM
  These codes will expire on November 4, so make sure you redeem them quickly!
  

[Mr EliteL]

Ah if I wasn't at work so late since I started just before the Special Program aired, I would've posted about this, just finished eating and was hopping on to watch and then do the post, so thanks Moony.

Still need to watch the full version to get the gist of what the new characters do as I've been trying to avoid leaks, plus the events coming up. Archon Quest is my biggest interest, looking to be one of the best so far and I will play that immediately on my main. Still unsure if I want Furina yet, but might just go ahead and do so anyway on one of my accounts, they're all guaranteed at the moment. Although Cyno's weapon and Ayato's weapon both interest me too, my Ayato really needs a better weapon and when I got Yoimiya's and Yelan's on my second account it really boosted them. Then again I've been getting lucky on weapon pulls recently too so the 50/50 is likely to fail.

[Mr EliteL]

4.3 Special Program

Redemption Codes:

1. RS99D5LVTM6V
2. UBRQC4MCT4PZ
3. 8BQ9CMMVS5PM



What's New:

• Navia (5* Geo Claymore) 
  
• Chevreuse (4* Pyro Polearm)
  
• 5* weapon Verdict (Claymore)
  
• 2 new Artifact Sets - Nighttime Whispers in the Echoing Woods, Song of Days Past
  
• Navia Story Quest
  
• TCG Cards Lyney, Lynette, Alhaitham, Layla, Yelan, Albedo + Tavern Challenge Signora, Azhdaha, Dvalin
  
• System Optimization (One-Click Expedition, Repeated Challenge, Artifact Interface, Enhancement Screen, Quest Flow)
  

 
Version Specific:

• Phase 1 Banners: Navia & Ayaka
  
• Phase 2 Banners: Raiden Shogun & Yoimiya plus 4* Chevreuse
  
• Main Event Roses & Muskets, in Fontaine - Four minigames, earn event weapon Ultimate Overlord's Mega Magic Sword (Claymore) & Super-Duper Invincible Shining Sparkly Magic Crystal 
  
• Arataki Blazing Armor Beetle Battle Boot Camp
  
• Lost Riches - earn a Mini Seelie, introducing Brilliance a Seelie usable underwater
  
• Dance of Resolute Will (Combat minigame)
  
• Marvelous Merchandise
  

---

Navia is finally becoming playable and like that she uses her parasol in her attacks, similar to what the Yato clan do in Gintama.  So do I want to pull her? Yes and no, not on my main and not on my NA so it leaves my EU F2P which is slightly low for Primos. OK I have like 30-40 pulls and still some to add on from events and such still because I've been pulling on the weapon banner and got Haran Geppaku which I put on my Keqing there. As I'm at 25 pity on the character banner, guaranteed, so I hope she drops sooner rather than later in my pulls so I have some left. I also stupidly would like Chevreuse simply because I can now have an eyepatch team and she should go well with Fischl and Beidou so sweet.  Just one copy will do, although on which account I'm not sure as I can make the team on any of my three accounts as them and Kaeya are all built in some way.

Kinda looking forward to the main event because of the characters involved, Beetle on is whatever, but like the rest should be easy Primogem gathering so cool, and the overall update is a good breather as I need to catch up on exploration and such. Optimizations sound good too, especially for claiming all quicker, faster Expedition management and Domain repeats.

[Dragon Lord]

I'd really love to pull for Navia, because her design is very nice, but I just can't justify it when Noelle is seemingly going to be better than her in every single way. Especially taking into account that Noelle can self-sustain herself and Furina's buff, giving her a huge damage boost on top of everything else Noelle has going for her.

With other upcoming characters potentially going huge additions to several teams (Sigewinne rumored to be a Hydro bow healer, Cloud Retainer rumored to be an Anemo CC Healer), there's just no reason to pull for a character that does something one of my highly built characters already does, except worse. A shame too, because as I said, Navia is a lovely character.

I'm looking forward to a lot of the QoL features we are getting with this upcoming patch. The update to Expeditions is going to be a huge time saver considering I just run the same expeditions all of the time anyways. Being able to just click two buttons to claim the rewards and then send them all back out is going to be wonderful.

Starting domains in the middle instead of at the entrance when you choose to re-challenge them will be a huge time saver when going hard on Artifact farming. Not something that will be that big of a difference if you're just doing it once, but when you're running a domain 10+ times in a row, then it's going to add up to a lot of time saved on just running back to the middle every time. The only thing that would be better if they'd let us have an option to claim domain rewards x amount of times. Like instead of having to clear the domain five times, you can clear it once and then choose to claim rewards five times. Domains are super easy and fast to clear anyways, so this would just be a bit of a time saver. Especially considering how dull doing the same 20-30 second fight ends up feeling after a while.

Being able to auto add EXP books when leveling a character instead of having to hold down the "+" until you reach the next level cap will be very nice as well. Most gachas have this, including Honkai Star Rail since the beginning, so it's about damn time they got around to giving us this in Genshin. Really should have been a Day 1 feature though.

Chevreuse is a character I'd like to add to the roster, but unfortunately she comes on two really bad banners for me. I already have Raiden at C6, so wouldn't want to risk pulling an early copy of her and wasting a 50/50 win. Yoimiya is... bleh. I haven't touched my Yoimiya in ages and really wish I could refund the Primos I wasted on her and her bow. She just isn't fun to play and Hu Tao is so much stronger. Maybe she'll appear on Sigewinne's banner, or Furina's re-run banner when I want to finish off C6ing my Furina. Or even maybe if a Nilou re-run drops at a good time, since I want to finish C6ing my Nilou as well.

[Moonface]

Genshin Impact | Chevreuse Overview Trailer
Meet Genshin Impact Chevreuse and learn more about the upcoming Pyro character in this new Genshin Impact character overview trailer. This latest trailer shows off several Genshin Impact Captain Chevreuse abilities, including her exploration talent Double Time March, Short-Range Rapid Interdiction Fire elemental skill, Line Bayonet Thrust EX normal attack, and much more.

[Mr EliteL]

I rarely watch the Overview trailers anymore, I just wait until the Special Program or release and try out the trial version of a character to see their worth...or if I'm really interested beforehand like I was Navia, just wish and try them out in my party first hand.
I did get Chevreuse before trying her trial just to get her on one of my accounts though, but unfortunately don't intend to go all in and get her C4/C6 straight away but she's still usable if I really want to do an Overload team. I just wish her cooldown on her skill was quicker, only C4 gets the reset so you can use it twice in quick succession. Then again she doesn't want to be on field for long anyway.

Speaking of Navia I'm really pleased with getting her, does remind me I need to go into Abyss Floor 11 and possibly 12 on my EU F2P account as I intended to use a team with her in there.

[Moonface]

I'd never really noticed a character overview trailer before but when I watched the Chevreuse one it seemed to really go in depth about what she can do which I wasn't sure was known information before now or not, so that was why I posted it.
I also didn't know this game offered trials for new characters. I just assumed you get told what they can do up front and decide from that plus their rating whether you care to get them or not. XD

[Mr EliteL]

Yeah they usually go a bit more in-depth than the Special Program does and they release it just before the update/banner change drops.

Yup, every patch/banner phase every character that is on the banner gets a trial domain challenge, with exception of Barbara, Xiangling and I think Noelle too for being among the starter character received for free upon certain requirements, however they used to be included, possibly Collei and Lynette too might not get one now as they're also free, can't remember. They are put into a recommended team who are also a "Trial" version of the character, with a recommended weapon or the 5*'s signature weapon so you can test them out for yourself. The trials have rewards to ascend the character once, plus the 5*'s have 20 Primogems.

[Mr EliteL]

4.4 Special Program

Redemption Codes:

1. BBQ8AZHUH2CZ
2. MT88AYHCZ2UR
3. FA9QAGYDZJEV



What's New:

• Xianyun (5* Anemo Catalyst)
  
• Gaming (4* Pyro Claymore)
  
• 5* Catalyst Crane's Echoing Call
  
• Xianyun Story Quest
  
• Skins for Ganyu, Shenhe and Xingqiu
  
• New Area: Space between Liyue and Fontaine opens up (Qiaoying Village, Yilong Wharf, Chenyu Vale + more)
  
• World Boss Solitary Suanni
  
• TCG Update: New cards Sayu, Thoma, Cryo Hypostasis, Millennial Pearl Seahorse 
  

Version Specifics: 

• Phase 1 Banners: Xianyun & Nahida with 4* Gaming
  
• Phase 2 Banners: Xiao & Yae Miko
  
• Flagship Event: Vibrant Harriers Aloft in Spring Breeze - earn Xingpiu's skin by meeting requirements + invite a 4* Liyue character through three activities
  
• Receiver of Friends From Afar (cooking for characters minigame)
  
• Journey Through Hilinigmatic Terrain (stealth + combat minigame)
  
• Triumphant Frenzy (combat domain with randomised Trial characters)
  
• Overflowing Mastery
  

QOL Changes:

• Fast Equip Artifacts - Choose between Quick Loadout or Custom Loadout; Quick will bring up what is commonly used by other players if you have any available and Custom is similar to the current system with more options to locate artifacts
  

---

I actually kept away from being spoiled of most of this, the only stuff I knew about was Xianyun, a tiny bit about Gaming, knew Ganyu and Xingqiu were getting skins, didn't know Shenhe was going to be included too, also didn't know what Ganyu was going to look like but did know Xingqiu was getting a look similar to Furina. Knew the area was opening up between Liyue and Fontaine but didn't know what was going to be in there. The banners I knew it was going to be Xianyun, Xiao and Nahida but not Yae though I knew she was a high possibility if Nahida was in there.

Does look strange Xianyun and Nahida are Phase 1 as the Archons have been in Phase 2 so far in version 4 but I'm guessing they want to see how much a new character + an Archon is going to go. Can't see Xiao & Yae earning a lot for them, just late-comers for Xiao and possibly people wanting Yae with Nahida but that's about it. Not too bothered about Xingqiu's skin but would be good to see what he looks like next to Furina, Ganyu and Shenhe I feel like getting them purely because I have them on two other accounts and can use their originals there, and that they're pretty OK too similar to Xianyun's style but of course she was the one who made the outfits for them in-game. 

I was originally going to skip Xianyun, I'll likely will still but I need to see what others come up with because I'm wondering how she'll be with Alhaitham as he does have plunging as part of his skill if you're aiming up slightly. So I'm thinking what if his initial skill then plunge, attack for the ability thing to happen, jump, plunge, attack - ability, repeat. I suppose I can test a bit with Venti's charged skill. I'm not actually expecting a big boost difference or anything and I'll just stick with what I usually use for Alhaitham which is a number of varieties but the main one I go with is Al/Nahida (Collei if Nahida is in a bloom team)/Raiden(or Yae or Zhongli)/Kuki (or Zhongli here instead).

Hu Tao and Furina meeting will be interesting to see, perhaps Zhongli will be there too so I wonder how he'll act around her, but probably just how he normally is around mortals. So hoping the flagship event will be fun to see the characters interact, the side minigames for it are whatever though. I'm pleased to hear the pronunciation for Gaming is similar to how we say "charming" just slightly quicker at the start or something, I knew it wasn't going to be "gaming" obviously, I just couldn't imagine how.

The Fast Equip Artifacts feature isn't what many people seem to have hoped for as in have different loadouts to can quickly switch between but instead...this. I don't see this as a better way to sort out the slots for a character, so I'm hoping it doesn't interfere too much with how we currently manage them.

[Dragon Lord]

Delicious freemogems for my Sigewinne pulls. Yum yum.

4.4 is pretty much skip central for me. All characters are a skip. Not because they're bad, but because I already have Nahida and Yae at C6 and don't want Xianyun any more after they ruined her and made her a plunge support (thanks Hoyo). So I'll be doing a lot of saving for this patch, to either pull for Sigewinne (not sure if she'll be 5*, there's a lot of back and forth going on with leakers on whether she'll be 4* or 5*), or for finishing off my Furina C6ing when she re-runs.

Skins are most likely skip. I like Ganyu's default outfit (dat booty) and the new skin just doesn't do enough for me. Maybe if it was 5* like she deserves and had some nice animation changes, but as it stand right now, meh.

Best sounding part of this whole patch is the two best Genshin girls (Waifu Tao and Furina) meeting each other. Hope they kiss.